The Baroque

Era

1600-1750
Copyright © 2005 - Frankel Consulting Services, Inc.
What was going on in the world?
 1607 - English settle Jamestown
 1610 - Galileo confirms the Earth is round
 1687 - Sir Isaac Newton discovers gravity
 1732- George Washington born
Famous Baroque
Artists
Diego Velasquez
What does the word
Baroque mean?
Baroque is a French word from Portugese
origins that means an irregularly shaped
pearl.
The term Baroque was originally
used for the art works created
during this period. They were
“strange” and “extravagant”.
Characteristics of Baroque
Music
 Use of a Basso Continuo – “continuous bass”
harpsichord and cello providing the bass of the
composition.
 Improvisation is used within the melodies.
 “Making it up as you go along”

 If you hear a harpsichord, it’s almost always

Baroque.
 Baroque
Composers
Johann Sebastian
Bach
1685-1750

Tocatta and Fugue

in d minor
 George Frederic Handel
1685-1759

The Messiah
-The Hallelujah Chorus
-(the last movement of the
-piece)
Johann Pachelbel 1653-
1706
 German
 Most well known for
his canons –
specifically
Canon in D
 Canon: a musical
form in which one part
sings a melody, and the
other parts sing the same
melody, but enter at
different times. Canons
are sometimes called
rounds.

 Pachelbel’s Canon in D
has 3 parts and a basso
continuo.
 Antonio
Vivaldi
1678-1741

The Four Seasons

The 4th movements is

“Spring”
 Baroque
Instruments
Flute
Recorder
Trumpet
Horn
Viola
Cello
Harpsichords
Pipe Organ
 Composers began using mixed groups of
instruments
 Music was no longer only functional, it was made
to be enjoyed on it’s own.
 What does “functional” mean?
 Composers began to search for inspiration for
their compositions in not only the church, but in
nature.
 Baroque music is very similar to jazz and rap in
their use of improvisation.
Critical Listening
Please copy and then answer the
following on a separate sheet of
paper that you will turn in:

What is Vivaldi trying to portray in

this piece of music? What clues do I
hear in the music that help me to
make this decision?
Thank you!